The great modern Emrys
by communigaytion
Summary: The modern Merlin has made an unexpected trip to Camelot.
1. Chapter 1

_obviously theres spoilers_

_i do not own merlin_

_uhh time travel stuff_

_slight ooc_

〜

Merlin passed the lake of avalon, scoffing. He had stopped waiting for Arthur since the second century of waiting, and honestly he was sick of everything having to do with _The Arthurian Legends_.

He sighed, taking a stroll down the pavement. He was running out of food and herbs, so he made a mental note to go get some on the way back home. He just needed some air first.

Even after everything, Merlin had stopped hoping for Arthur to come back. If only he had told Arthur earlier, maybe that would have helped. If only he told morgana about his powers, she wouldn't have gone evil. Regret often knocked on merlin's doors every five years or so, so why would this one be different?

Once merlin was done with his walk, he turned around and started to walk to the direction of his house. That was, until he dumped into someone. "Deepest apologies" Blurted Merlin, in a gruff voice.

The woman grinned softly and nodded, grabbing her bag from the ground before looking up to merlin. She gasped loudly, eyes widening. This gave Merlin a string of confusion. "You - you're - you . ." She muttered, shuttering softly.

Merlin raised an eyebrow, looking almost like gaius when he did something stupid or got curious. "My name is -"

"Emrys" That was all he heard before a bright light flashed in his eyes, making him stumble and fall. He made an 'oof' noise before falling down on his bum. There was light chatter close to him, as he tried to readjust his eyes.

_'should've brought my damn glasses. .'_ He grumbled to himself, narrowing his eyes before standing up. There was shouting, _loud _shouting. Something about a sorcerer.

Merlin felt hands grab him by the shoulders, which made him gasp. He blinked, not seeing much due to the bright light the sun was giving. It wasn't long before head gained his eyesight that he noticed what seemed to be the halls of Arthur's palace. .

a loud bang made merlin flinch, he noticed that the door looked like the one that. . oh. Arthur was sitting on his throne, giving orders to a servant before turning his head to merlin and the men.

"Sire, we have brought the sorcerer that has killed your father" One of the guards said, shoving Merlin to the ground which made him grunt. "He has somehow transported himself in the square, sire"

Merlin turned his head up and looked around. It wasn't like any of the dreams before, no. It was _real_. Every detail is the same as before, to the walls to the people. Nostalgia hit him hard, so hard. He remembered the times where arthur would throw nearby objects at him because he was being idiotic, and the many times he helped the maids and servants clean the rooms despite being arthur's manservant.

Everything just hit him in the head with a baseball bat.

His eyes darted to a familiar old man he remembered clearly, the eyebrow raise that made you nervous and the robe. Gaius, the court physician. His mentor. The same old gaius.

The knights of the round table was beside and up forth Arthur, protecting him like the good old days. Their swords were raised in a way that Merlin saw as protecting their best friend.

And, there they were. Gwen, Arthur, and Merlin. Gwen was sitting next to arthur with a worried look on her face while Arthur glared at Mer - _Emrys._ Merlin had his eyes widened, frozen from shock.

Emrys could only chuckle at his younger self's response, but nodded in respect to the king. "Sorcerer, name your business here" Arthur's voice was loud, and so very clear. It made Emrys gulp, but he nodded no less.

Emrys stared at Arthur's blue eyes, as if trying to solve a puzzle. As so did Arthur. "I do not know, _Sire_" He dropped his sarcasm and bowed, not able to keep himself from doing so.

"What do you mean, you 'don't know'?" He questioned, furrowing his eyebrows. Merlin's eyes dodged his older self's icy cold ones, and instead looked at Gaius who shrugged in response.

Emrys sighed at the king, standing up slowly to show that he won't harm anyone. "I mean, i do not know. One second i'm going back home, the other i'm here in camelot" He explained, rolling his eyes.

Gwen glanced at Arthur, seeing him troubled. "Who made you those clothes? They look similar" Emrys glanced down to see he still was wearing Gaius' robe he borrowed. Emrys had fixed it to look more modern, but it still looked recognizable.

Emrys frowned, turning his head to guinevere. "I made them myself, Queen Guinevere. Using old robes i had in my wardrobe" He answered, a smile forming on his face. To everyone, this smile was way too familiar. This smile was like seeing an old friend you haven't seen in years smile.

Emrys' smile turned into a frown after he finally put himself in a state of mind, finally. Magic was illegal in Camelot, and was punishable by death. Emrys sighed, closing his eyes.

"Sire, if i may, i would like to tell you about how old i truly am" He spoke, tilting his head to the ground. "I am far too ancient, and i would like my last moments in the place that gave me strength"

"And that is?"

"Camelot, Sire"

Arthur and Gwen glanced at each other, with alarming eyes. "Why Camelot?" Gwen spoke softly, tilting her head at the old man.

Emrys grinned slightly, trying to force it down. "Even though it has killed many of my kind, i have grown attached to it and the people inside it. I promised myself long ago that i wouldn't let it crumple, but that was far past my power"

"How old are you, Dragoon?"

"Emrys, Sire. My name is Emrys"

"Emrys."

"I am over a millennium. I am 1,517 years old, Sire"

Everyone in the room was agaped, including Merlin and Gaius. "That's impossible! You can't.." Arthur gestured to Emrys. "be over a millennium!" Arthur shouted.

"Well, i _can._ King Arthur, I am from the year 2019"


	2. Chapter 2

After explaining how he got there, and how the modern era is, Arthur and Gwen needed some time to think. Arthur had Emrys locked in the dungeon, and checked his clothes for any magical artifacts. There wasn't any, besides a glass viel which was a medicine Emrys had made to help him with his health, being quite the old man. It contained no magic.

Currently, Emrys was sitting down on a crappy metal bed, waiting for Merlin and Gaius. He knew that they had some questions.

When Merlin and Gaius arrived, he was trying to recount how to read and speak the dragon language. It had been a while since he had spoke it, nevertheless read dragon. Anyway, back on track.

Merlin and Gaius looked at Emrys in curiosity, and worry. "Merlin" said Gaius stepping forward to the cell which contained his elder disciple. Both Merlin and Emrys had turned to Gaius before Merlin turned his head back to himself.

"Please, call me Emrys" Gaius nodded slowly, while Merlin looked at him in surprise. "I assume you have questions about the future, magic in the modern world.."

"Yes, exactly" Replied Merlin, nodding his head.

"Well, go on then. I won't promise that you'll like the answers, though" Emrys grunted, and Merlin furrowed his eyebrows.

"Is the magic in your time?" Merlin asked.

Emrys frowned, shaking his head. "No, not in a very long time. It is said to be fictional, and therefore nobody possesses magic, except for me" His gruff voice seemed to echo in Merlin's ears. No magic?

"Was albion born?" Gaius turned to Merlin, seemingly surprised at his question. While Merlin was hoping, maybe, that albion was created and there was peace in camelot. But, the look on Emrys face made him worry.

Emrys shook his head once again, holding his hands together and his elbows on his legs. "No" He answered simply, which made Merlin angry.

"Why? What did i- we do wrong?"

"Morgana"

Merlin tilted his head, putting his hands on the cold metal bars. "I have to kill her?" Emrys sighed, turning his head to he ground. "What?"

"Morgana had thought that nobody except the druids had understood how she felt, therefore hating camelot and it's nobles. Her hatred blinded her, just like uther. When i tried to reason with her, she only said that it was the only way" Merlin gulped, and Gaius paled. "Only keeping your magic from Morgana will only end in destruction"

"Though, as you said, you can kill her and the boy, Mordred. It is possible that killing them will bring camelot to albion. You just need to kill them" Merlin shook his head, stepping away from the cell.

"No. No, it can't be that way" He refused to kill the people he cared about. "There has to be another way!" Merlin declared, widening his eyes.

Emrys knitted his eyebrows together in annoyance. "Fine, there is another way" Merlin gasped, practically begging Emrys to tell him with just his eyes. "When all seems lost, and Mordred is nearly in his deathbed, the disir will tell Arthur to let there be magic in camelot, or let mordred die" Emrys explained.

"The disir?" Gaius gaped, and Emrys hummed.

"Yes, the disir" He confirmed, nodding his head slightly. "Arthur will ask you to pick what you thought was best. I chose that magic is not allowed in camelot"

"Then why didn't albion form?" Merlin questioned

"Because Mordred lived. It forged Arthur's death. Morgana and Mordred had become allies, because i didn't help him while he was wounded" Merlin was at lost for words. "Mordred had begun to despise Emrys, and it was all my fault"

Gaius whispered a "No" and shook his head. "It wasn't your fault, Emrys. You did what you thought was best" Gaius consoled him. "Why haven't you died, Emrys? It is impossible to be alive for so long, unless you are apart of the old religion"

"Not impossible, just extremely rare" Emrys replied. "I am immortal. I saw people around me die while i was getting older, yet not dying. Gwen had become queen after Arthur's death, and ruled the kingdom with nobody and died until she was old. Gwaine died because of Morgana. Pervival had died while fighting off bandits. You, Gaius, had died from old age just as Gwen" He ranted.

"I had learned a spell that allowed me to not age, but i learned it while i was 70 million years of age"

Gaius let out a breath of air, glancing to Merlin before turning back to Emrys. "You have been through a lot, dear boy. No wonder you are so calm about all this, even announcing that you're from the future" Emrys scoffed

"I've been through worse things" He declared, remembering his time back in vietnam. He remembered seeing one of his many lovers get murdered right in front of him. One of his daughter's was sold off by some idiotic ruler and later found dead. He got in a car crash because of some drunk taxi driver. He fought in wars, hoping to see Arthur in one. He watched many of his loved ones die, and therefore isolated himself from the world.

"...What do you mean?" Merlin questioned, worried about his elder self.

"I fought in wars, got tortured more than i can count, lost my many lovers and children and grandchildren, i pretended my death so many times and traveled all around the world, all while waiting for Arthur to come and magic to be returned to the land for many decades" Merlin gulped, has he really been through that much?

Gaius, though shocked and concerned, a sentence had struck him and made him confused. "What do you mean by waiting for Arthur, Emrys?" Emrys chuckled, scratching the back of his hand.

"Ah, right" He coughed harshly before waving his hand. "When Arthur died, Kilgharrah said that when he is needed, Arthur will rise again. The world nearly ended many times yet he hadn't come back, and then i lost hope" Merlin and Gaius glanced to eachother, many emotions stilled in their faces.

Before one of them could reply, knights of the round table showed up. "Gaius, Merlin, what are you doing here?" Questioned Sir Leon, an eyebrow raised. Merlin couldn't utter a reply while Emrys cringed at his younger self.

Gaius, though, looked completely calm. "Ah, Sir Leon, Merlin and I were just helping Emrys with his back pain" He lied, and Merlin looked at him with suspicion which earned him a glare from his mentor.

Emrys stood up, grunting and nodding. "Yes, They gave me a vial. My back is okay now, Head physician Gaius. You can go back to your studies" He bowed politely which surprised everyone around him. Merlin wasn't good of a liar at all, so even he was surprised.

Sir Leon nodded, and Gaius and Merlin left the dungeon.

Arthur and Gwen had interrogated him for hours, taking in information about the modern world and magic which he held. That as until Arthur asked about the kingdom, what happened after a few years he had asked. Emrys had suddenly stopped talking, telling him that it was best if he didn't know.

Arthur asked about his death. No answer, except for "It's best if you don't know"

Arthur asked about Gwen's death. The same reply.

Arthur had asked about Morgana, no reply.

Arthur was getting impatient, and demanded Emrys to answer his questions. Emrys, however, wasn't fazed and said no, until the guards came in and pointed their swords at them. He knew that he couldn't hurt Arthur's men, they're too important.

So, Emrys complied and Arthur dismissed the guards. Gwen had sighed out of relief when he did. Emrys sighed, staring down at the floor before turning his eyes to his king. "Mordred, The Knight. He became allies with Morgana after his god, me, hadn't healed him in his time of need" Arthur widened his eyes and glanced towards Gwen who had asked of him to not harm the old man until further notice.

Emrys paused before continuing. "The Disir will ask of you to legalize magic in camelot or let Mordred die after he suffered a fatal wound from an attack" Arthur was having trouble getting his anger in control, how dare he accuse Mordred of his future death!

"You will ask Merlin to help with choosing what to do, and he will tell you that magic doesn't belong in camelot. Later, back from your visit to the disir, Mordred will come out of the palace healthy and the wound will not harm him" Arthur and Gwen sighed out of relief. "This will seal your death, you will die by the knight you call a friend. Mordred is your doom" Emrys was beginning to think that Kilgharrah has effected him.

"But why?" Gwen asked softly.

"Because, Arthur had saved Mordred before. Mordred is like a little brother to Morgana, almost. They are connected, emotionally" Arthur had raised an eyebrow.

"Of course i've saved Mordred before! He's my knight!"

Emrys paused, staring into the king's eyes. "No, you've saved him when he was just a boy. The druid child. The one you, Morgana, and Merlin saved from your father" Arthur and Gwen went agape, for separate and same reasons.

"Mordred is a druid?" Arthur stared into space, seemingly having the eyes of a goat. "Morgana and Mordred are.. supposed to become allies?" Emrys hummed, nodding his head. "Then.. why did Mordred want to become my knight?"

"Because, he felt indebted to you. You helped him escape from the palace, remember?"

"Yeah but.." Arthur paused. "How do you know all this? I've never told anyone!"

"I am a sorcerer, my king. I can see what others cannot time by time" He lied, trying to come up with a believable story. "I am immortal. I am magic. What makes you think that i do not know what happened and what will happen?" Emrys raised an eyebrow.

Though Emrys was indeed a powerful sorcerer, he hadn't done a spell since the dark ages. I would take months or years to get back to at least his younger self's durability and spell-casting. But Arthur didn't know that, no one did. Except maybe Kilgharrah and Merlin.

Arthur was at lost for words. He was indeed a powerful sorcerer, Gaius warned him earlier. He gulped and furrowed his eyebrows. "What happens next, then?"

Emrys grinned at Arthur's words. "After Mordred and Morgana become allies, they will plan to attack. The attack will cause many men to die" Arthur gritted his teeth upon those words.

"The attack will start as a fireball attacking fort stowell, in the outpost of camelot. In the fight, Gwaine will find a beautiful girl being dragged away by a saxon. After a long fight, the girl, Eira, knocks the Saxon out and ends up inadvertently saving her rescuer's life. Leon orders the knights to retreat, since there are too many Saxons, and they and Eira return to Camelot." Emrys explained, and Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Is the girl important? She's just a girl, i don't see why you'd have to mention her"

"She is important, sire. You will see in a bit, king Arthur"

"Back in the citadel, a certain sorcerer was wandering around aimlessly knowing that they could not help camelot"

"Why would a sorcerer be worried about Camelot?! That doesn't make sense"

"You do know that sorcerers have friends, family and a home here at camelot. Do you?" Emrys asked, annoyed that Arthur had interrupted him. Meanwhile, both Gwen and Arthur was surprised at Emrys' question.

Arthur shuttered. "I-i i never thought about it.."

Emrys snorted, rolling his eyes. "Of course you didn't, you prat" he didn't realize what he said, and continued to speak. "Gaius heals Eira, with the assistance of Merlin. During this process, Gwaine and Eira begin to fall in love and it is revealed that she lost her family during the attack" Arthur hummed in acknowledgement, and Gwen was only focusing on the word 'prat'

Emrys went on and on about how Arthur's death will be, answering questions every once in a while. Everything was a lot to take in, for Arthur and Gwen. The story of the unknown sorcerer, the child of Balinor, was eye-catching. Why would a sorcerer want to heal Arthur? He was the son of Uther. "The sorcerer cares for you, looks after you and your kingdom. They have saved you from many attacks before" Arthur still didn't get it.

Emrys had left many parts in the resulting of Arthur's death, only the ones where Merlin had done his magic, not Emrys. And then there came Gwen's death, and the aftermath of Arthur's death. He told them that he watched over camelot while Gwen was queen, protecting her from anything dangerous including messing with attacks that other kingdoms and bandits that tried to harm Gwen and Camelot.

Arthur was very grateful, protecting her wife from any danger. Emrys had told them that Gwen ruled the kingdom very peacefully, and always had tricks up her sleeve whenever it came to criminals. Gwen ruled the land very well, and adopted a little boy she found while walking around the lower town. He became the prince, and had always asked what Arthur was like.

In time, the unknown sorcerer had told Gwen about their magic, and she accepted them and legalized magic. Giving them the title of court sorcerer. The sorcerer had helped the people of camelot by healing them of their injuries and diseases, often with knights and guards that chase down criminals and bandits whenever Emrys wasn't there.

Emrys had talked while the pendragon's listened for hours on end. It was already nightfall and they still went on. They talked about many different topics related to the past, the present and the future. Emrys had told them that the little prince's bloodline is still going in the modern era, as he often checks up on his many different family members of the future.

In the end, Arthur had seen magic in a new light. How Emrys talks about his people makes him think about how much sorcerers are people as well. He still had some grudges, and how he was raised he couldn't accept it.

in much time, they were done and Emrys was escorted to the dungeons. Arthur and Gwen have had a little conversation of their own, talking about what they should do to prevent all the bad things happening in the future.

Afterall, Emrys was a wise man. He spoke such wise words. Gwen had something in the back of her mind, though. He had called the king a prat, and only Merlin had the confidence to call him that.

She might ask both Merlin and Emrys later.

_i might not do another one cause,, im lazy and i dont want to so,,_


	3. okay um

UM

so people read this?

i might not update this because well life is crazy rn and i mainly did the second chapter because the first chapter was just _that_ and i was unsatisfied with it.

the first chapter was supposed to be a drabble and thats it until i found it in my drafts left alone for like a year.

so yeah this fanfic can be great if it wasn't for me writing it lmao

also a guest left a review that kinda hurt me but i wanted to point out a few things since this website cant let me reply to the review for gods sake

_**"**__**Sorry, but this is terrible. It's unbelievable that future Merlin is just sitting there helpless.**_

_**Why couldn't he put the guards under a sleeping spell for example? Why isn't he telling Merlin not to be.a dogsbody and to actually lead like he's supposed to do? Merlin's destiny wasn't to be Arthur's servant."**_

okay, ouch. but, i get where you're going at i guess? i can't pinpoint WHERE exactly you meant by putting the guards under a sleeping spell. in the cellar? when they were in Arthur's chambers? if you're referring to old merlin/emrys then he would have to practice more and more until he can get it right. it says he hasn't said a spell since the dark ages and that it effected his magic a bit. plus when he's in camelot he can't practice his magic without being seen as suspicious since guards check up on him every few minutes. when they found him practicing dragon (greek?) they shrugged him off as crazy

if you're referring to merlin, he wasn't near the guards in Arthur's chambers and instead tried to focus on old merlin/emrys' words. going out every now and then to get arthur's food and going to see gaius where a buttload of chores were given to him.

and uh, i actually didnt think about old merlin/emrys telling merlin not to be a wimp but if i update i'll definitely add that! thank you actually.

anyway i know that merlin's destiny is not to be a servant but to be all-great-emrys. i wanted to focus more and more on arthur and old merlin/emrys, and didn't think that i was treating merlin like some sort of side character. i'll try and think more about merlin if i update once more.

now that that's outta the box.

if you guys dislike/hate this fanfic or you disagree with my direction of the fanfic you can go ahead and write your own version idc. as long as it isn't sex or rape or abuse or bullying or- you get the point. don't turn my adventure genre idea into a sex dungeon idea because n o. nobody fuck the old man.

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

im going now bye see you in 266293451412+ years


End file.
